Pastor Shi Weihan, now also known by his English name, John Stone, was arrested in China on Nov. 29, 2007. As a bookstore owner, he sold books with the government’s permission, but Pastor Shi also printed and freely distributed Bibles and other Christian books on the side. On June 10, 2009, he was sentenced to three years in prison on a charge of violating “the regulations of the state in printing illegal publications,” according to the official indictment.

While Shi was in prison, VOM readers sent his family letters in response to a story about him on VOM’s www.PrisonerAlert.com website. Pastor Shi was released from prison in February 2011 and later left China with his family to pursue studies at Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas. He recently met with VOM workers to talk about his time in prison and share how much the letters from VOM readers meant to him and to his family.

 

(Shanghai--Dec. 27, 2012) A Korean pastor is being threatened with expulsion after the house church worship service at which he was preaching on Sunday was raided by Shanghai police, ChinaAid has learned.

The Korean pastor surnamed Hu was right in the midst of his sermon at 2 p.m. on Dec. 23 to the Zhenguang (True Light) House Church, in the Xiangshan (Fragrant Hills) New Housing Development, in Shanghai's Pudong New Area, when the officials from the Public Security Bureau, Religious Affairs Bureau and local police station grabbed him and took him into custody and dispersed the meeting.

Hu was held for two hours and not released until 4 p.m.  He was told he would be expelled from China.

ChinaAid calls on Christians worldwide to pray for Brother Hu.

Source: China Aid

Recently Christianity Today did a highlight piece on Bob Fu from China Aid.  Bob has served the persecuted church for many years and has recently received more notariety for his work with the persecuted church in China.

Here's a snip for you:

Activist-pastor Bob Fu once called himself "God's double agent" because he taught English during the day at a Chinese communist school and conducted home Bible studies at night.

But now Fu is based in Midland, Texas, where he heads ChinaAid, which provides legal assistance and support to pastors, political dissidents, and couples resisting China's one-child policy. This new focus brings Chinese and American Christians closer together in common cause. His advocacy against China's brutal one-child policy is proving to be highly effective in drawing believers from both nations into the fight for the unborn as well as for greater religious freedom.

In May and early June, Fu played an influential role in three events that drew global attention to the one-child policy and forced abortion:

• Dissident blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng, whose 2005 research uncovered 130,000 forced abortions in one province in China, fled house arrest in a dramatic nighttime escape to the American Embassy in Beijing. With assistance from Fu and many others, Chen traveled to New York on a student visa.

• Feng Jianmei, a woman from Shaanxi Province, was pregnant without official permission. Authorities arrested her and forced her to undergo a late-term abortion. A photo of her and her dead baby went viral on the Internet. Many pro-life websites, including All Girls Allowed and ChinaAid, drew global attention to the illegal practice of forced late-term abortion.

• Cao Ruyi and her husband Li Fu were expecting a child without official permission. Officials arrested Cao and threatened abortion. The couple contacted ChinaAid, which drew global attention to the couple's plight. This, in part, motivated family-planning officials to back down.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

 

We have urgent breaking news from our friends at China Aid concerning the latest with Gao Zhisheng.

Click here to read the full report.

(Shaya, Xinjiang—Aug. 28, 2012) Two lawyers for jailed Christian lawyer Gao Zhisheng were denied a meeting with him Monday by authorities at the prison in far west China where he has been held since last December, following years of being “disappeared” into police custody. 

ChinaAid learned that prominent Beijing human rights lawyers Li Xiongbing and Li Subin, engaged by Gao’s eldest brother, traveled Sunday from Xinhe county to Shaya county, in the remote part of the region of Xinjiang where Gao is being held. Along the way, they were stopped at a police guard post where their IDs were checked.
 
At 8 a.m. Monday, the two set off for Shaya prison from the county seat on the only road to the prison, which was fenced off on both sides by barbed wire. En route, they were stopped again for ID checks and an inspection of the trunks of their two vehicles. Upon arrival at the prison at 9 a.m., they made their request to see Gao to the police officer on duty at the desk, Dong Ping.  (Photo: Shaya Prison)
 
Dong said that they needed prior approval by the prison authorities to visit Gao. Because the prison administrators were holding their Monday meeting of the Communist Party branch committee and an administrative affairs meeting, no decision could be made until the meetings had ended and the prison administrators were consulted about whether the two lawyers could visit.

Click here to read the full article at China Aid.

The following is from our friends at China Aid...

(Washington, D.C.—July 24, 2012) A member of Congress was to congratulate ChinaAid on Tuesday in formal remarks from the congressional floor marking the group’s 10-year anniversary.

In prepared remarks made available to ChinaAid, Rep. John Carter (R-Tex.) described ChinaAid as being “at the forefront of the struggle for freedom and rights in China” and said it has been “doing important work.”

“ChinaAid is not only an effective voice for the voiceless, but is also working to make sure China’s human rights defenders are able to speak up against injustice,” the former judge said.

After giving a brief history of ChinaAid and its founder, Pastor Bob Fu, Carter said, “The work of his organization is vital, it is effective, it is bipartisan, and it is necessary.  Everyone here in Congress will agree, a future China that respects the freedom of speech, the freedom to worship, and the rule of law will be a critical strategic partner with the United States.”

Carter was one of the VIPs ChinaAid invited to speak at its Tuesday morning seminar on “Human Rights, Religious Freedom and Rule of Law in China: A 10-Year Review and Future Prospects."

Below is the full text of Rep. Carter’s prepared remarks, which will be entered into the Congressional Record:  Click here to read the full speech.

China (MNN) ― One of Henry Ford’s most famous alleged sayings with the production of the Model T vehicle in 1908 was, “You can have any color as long as it’s black.”

This humorous quote may relate to the trite subject of car color. But is there a similar mindset in China’s treatment of a Christian’s freedom to worship?

The Communist government of China states in Article 36 of its constitution, “Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief.”

However, Greg Musselman through Voice of the Martyrs, Canada’s source, ChinaAid, says, “Over the next ten years, [China’s government] has made a stated document…that actually shows a three-phase plan to eradicate house churches or unregistered churches and then gett them all together under the three-self patriotic church which then allows the government to control the church.”

Some wonder what the big deal is with registering a house church in China anyway. Musselman explains, “There may be some good things going on within the government-controlled churches [if they are] preaching a salvation message, but really that is frowned upon by the government. So many I have talked to over the years are saying that the control of the government is not really a true church [with] the freedom to preach the whole Bible.”

One recent example of governmental crackdown on unregistered church activity took place two weeks ago, June 26, when Chinese government officials forced a teacher theological training camp for pastors to shut down.

The Chinese Theological Society is registered in Hong Kong, but not with the Chinese government where they held the training in Southern China. “They were doing some training…and near the end of their training time, the religious police came in and shut them down. And again, it’s a part of the intimidation process that the Chinese government often uses to try to force the underground Christians or the house church Christians into registering.”

ChinaAid says that cases of Christian persecution like these in China have increased by 20%.

However, Musselman points out that they don’t always make the headlines, since many of the more serious cases of persecution don’t always happen in the big cities. “China is such a massive country and many places are very rural, and so we don’t often hear the stories until much later, if at all in some cases.”

Yet, Christianity is flourishing and growing, both in the registered and unregistered churches. “The interesting thing is that there are more Christians in China than anywhere in the world,” says Musselman. “Some of the sources we’ve heard say that there are over 100 million, maybe as high as 120 million, who identify themselves as Christians.”

Musselman asks for prayer "that the Lord will give the [church] leaders wisdom and strength not to compromise.”

Source: Mission Network News

Members of the Shouwang house church continue to face harassment from Beijing authorities. Most recently, security officials denied the church’s student group access to two sports facilities in Beijing. The 1,000-plus members of the Shouwang Church have been meeting outdoors for 14 months, in protest against officials who have prevented them from purchasing or renting facilities for a worship space.

The student group met on Saturday morning, June 16, to play basketball on the campus of the Beijing Institute of Technology, just as they had been for some time. But when they arrived at the court, they were surprised to find it closed. They moved on to the gymnasium at Beijing Normal University, but soon after their arrival that basketball court was also closed. That’s when they noticed they were being followed by security agents.

Since they couldn’t play basketball, the group decided instead to play a kicking game on an open grass space. Almost immediately, campus security guards approached to stop them. They surrounded the Christians and seized a banner they were carrying, which read “Shouwang Youth Fellowship vs. Student Fellowship Basketball Game.” The students resisted and reported the incident to police, but the police simply confiscated the banner.

Eight members of the youth group went to the police station to retrieve the banner, but police refused to return it. Instead, they questioned the young people at length and recorded their answers. The eight were then escorted home by police officers from their respective neighborhood precincts. The final detainee wasn’t able to return home until 11 p.m.

The following morning, Shouwang Church members arrived as usual at their outdoor worship location in Beijing’s Haidian district, and, as usual, several were detained by police for questioning.

Shouwang expects to continue meeting outdoors, even through the hot summer months.

Source: China Aid Association

A few days ago, our friends at China Aid, shared a wonderful piece about Bob Fu being honored with an honorary doctorate from Midwest University, as well as a nice write up concerning the event that took place at Midwest University that China Aid Association and the Institute for Faith and Public Policy co-sponsored on Friday (June 22).  The event was titled “Christianity, Culture and the Future of China”.

Please click here to read a great review of the event.  Below is the last part that highlights our friend Dr. Bob Fu from China Aid.

Finally, Pastor Bob Fu spoke briefly, summarizing the speakers’ messages into three main points:

1. China has already undergone a transformation, especially an economic transformation.

2. China needs to continue to change, to make improvements in human rights and other areas, in order to become a great country, not only a super-power or large country. 

3. Two factors are vital to this new transformation: the efforts of citizens in China and international support.

In the afternoon, seminar participants attended Midwest University’s commencement ceremony, during which Pastor Bob Fu was given an honorary doctorate (photo right).

The following news is courtesy of our friends at China Aid.  Please pray for this family and for the woman who has lost her irreplacable baby.

Editor’s Note: Earlier this month, the famous Chinese political dissident Huang Qi was the first to expose on his 6-4 Tianwang website the forced abortion case of Feng Jianmei, a peasant from Yuping village, Zeng Family town, Zhenping county, Ankang city in Shaanxi province, who was seven months pregnant at the time. The tragedy of the June 3 abortion forced on her by government workers and the photo of her dead baby, following closely after the Chen Guangcheng incident, once again focused domestic and international attention on China’s one-child policy and its violent enforcement, drawing widespread and angry condemnation.

See our earlier report at http://www.chinaaid.org/2012/06/shaanxi-forced-abortion-tragedy.html

China’s government-controlled media reported that local government officials had been punished for their actions against Feng, in an attempt to portray forced abortion measures as a local problem in the implementation of China’s family planning policy and not the result of central government policies. According to the report below, local officials are wantonly meting out revenge against the couple who has already suffered so much. ChinaAid expresses its shock and condemnation and once again calls on the international community to pay close attention to this case and to help this couple.

Full story here.

The following news is from our great friends at China Aid.  You can always learn about Christian persecution in China by reading their website daily. 

Beijing—June 20, 2012) The continued persecution of Shouwang Church, which has been meeting outdoors for 14 months in defiance of an official crackdown, took a new turn this past weekend, with security authorities preventing young church members from using campus basketball courts.

On Saturday morning, Shouwang’s Youth Fellowship and Student Fellowship met, as is their custom, at the basketball court on the campus of Beijing Institute of Technology to play basketball. But, to their surprise, they found the courts closed. They went next to the gymnasium of Beijing Normal University. But soon after they arrived, the basketball court there was also closed. That’s when they noticed that they had been tailed by Domestic Security Protection agents.

So the Christian young people started playing a shuttlecock-kicking game, but almost immediately campus security guards rushed over to stop them. The guards surrounded the Christians and seized the groups’ “Shouwang Youth Fellowship vs Student Fellowship Basketball Game” banner. The fierce fight over the banner ended in a standoff.

(Nov. 1, 2009 file photo of Shouwang Church forced to meet outdoors in Haidian Park during a snowstorm.)

 

The Christians reported the incident to the police, and officers from the Beitaipingzhuang police station arrived on the scene. Several of the young people followed the police back to the station, wanting to regain possession of their banner. But not only did the police refuse to return the banner, they even required the eight Christians who had recounted what had happened to submit to long sessions of formal questioning that were recorded by a stenographer.

The police treated these young Christians in the same contemptible manner and with the same bad attitude as they treat the Christians who have been detained each Sunday from Shouwang’s designated outdoor worship site. They were finally released only after police from the local police stations of their respective neighborhoods came and transferred them to those local police stations, from where they were allowed to go home. It was 11 p.m. before the final detainee returned home.

Throughout the entire time, the Christians were level-headed, composed and calm in face of outrageously unjust treatment. The Beijing Domestic Security Protection Department, on the other hand, hid in the shadows playing dirty tricks.

Nonetheless, Shouwang Church members showed up as usual Sunday morning at the designated outdoor meeting site in Beijing’s Haidian District. Sixteen people were taken by police from the Zhonggang Plaza and taken to the Zhongguancun and Laiguangying police stations for questioning. The last of the detainees was released at 3 p.m.

We ask churches everywhere to pray for these brothers and sisters from Shouwang who have faithfully shown up for outdoor worship for so long. Beijing’s summer is heating up. Whether they worshipping outdoors or detained in a police station, may the Lord Jesus Christ grant them an extra measure of strength and courage so that they may continue to fight this spiritual battle.